Ruto Steps in Supremacy War Between Police and Judiciary

President William Ruto yesterday moved in to quell a brewing supremacy battle that has been going on between the Judiciary and the National Police Service.

A row has emerged between Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli and High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi after the IG disobeyed court orders prompting the judge to sentence him to a six-month prison sentence.

Judge Mugambi initially issued the acting IG with a summons on August 26 to shed light on the disappearance of Bob Njagi and two brothers Aslam and Jamil Longton who were allegedly abducted on August 19 by people believed to have been police officers.

While issuing the sentence last week, Judge Mugambi ordered Masengeli to present himself before the Commissioner General of the Kenya Prisons Services to start serving his sentence.

In what the judiciary interpreted as a retaliatory attack, Masengeli withdrew Mugambi’s bodyguards and the driver claiming that the recall was so that they could attend scheduled training .

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Chief Justice Martha Koome who for the better part of this week has been campaigning for the independence of the judiciary condemned the move terming it as an assault on judicial independence and an affront to the rule of law.

Yesterday, while launching the Strategic Framework for Implementation of Reforms in the security organs including National Police Service, and the National Youth Service, President Ruto called for a ceasefire between the two agencies urging them to embrace a harmonious working relationship.

“I am absolutely aware that the National Police Service is an independent institution, and so is the judiciary, but ultimately we have one master, the people of Kenya. And we must make sure that we work together towards serving not the interests of individuals, but the collective interests of the people of Kenya,” Ruto said.

President Ruto also urged all arms of government and independent institutions to be focused not on what is good for one sector, but on what is good for the greater good of the people of Kenya.

“ We must work together towards the common good of the people of Kenya. And that requires leadership that appreciates that our independence is for the purpose of making sure that we serve the people of Kenya. It is not independence for any other purpose. It is for making sure that we draw the lines for us to operationally work towards working for the people of Kenya,” he said.

He went on: “I want to ask for greater understanding, greater accommodation, greater intergovernmental and interagency collaboration for us to achieve what is good for the people of Kenya, without necessarily disagreements that can jeopardise the greater good of the people of Kenya.”

The President called on all arms of government to support the policy changes enshrined in the David Maraga task force recommendations on security sector reforms in order to revamp the sector as a way of entrenching democracy and the rule of law in Kenya.